Legislators need to look at the long haul — not just the next tough year

Published 10:29 am, Thursday, April 14, 2016

Gov. Dannel P. Malloy is forging ahead with long-overdue cuts in state spending and layoffs in an effort to get the state’s runaway finances under control.

For that, we applaud him.

Many circumstances, not the least of which was the economic collapse of 2008 — the effects of which are reverberating today in the form of reduced income tax revenue —contributed to Connecticut’s dilemma.

It is not enough, as some Democratic leaders have done, simply to say that this is the state’s new reality and we have to live with it.

It should instead be an impetus toward moving substantively on the structural changes that not only the Republican minority in Hartford is calling for, but business leaders as well.

To his credit, Malloy seems to be more attuned to the gravity of the situation and willing to make the hard choices than are his party’s legislative leaders. He’s been forceful and decisive because, in the clutch, through a series of budget adjustments, his majority party couldn’t — or wouldn’t — finish its work.

More hard decisions remain. And those decisions should be made in consort with Republicans in the legislature.

Republican leadership is pushing on the notion of structural change. And they are right.

The state for too long — through both Republican and Democratic administrations — has been lurching from one fix to another. That’s another part of the legacy that has brought the state to this point.

Malloy knows this, and in the area of structural change, last year started with a long-term plan to bring Connecticut’s $26 billion unfunded pension liability under control.

We believe, though, that the governor’s intention to cut aid to municipalities is ill advised.

Cities are where the jobs are going to grow, if businesses there are given the opportunity to do so. Economic development and the jobs it creates are absolutely critical to the state’s recovery. Those jobs are not going to be created in the rural and suburban pockets of Connecticut.

Under Connecticut’s tax structure, a city like Bridgeport, for instance, has to rely on property tax from its 16 square miles as its major source of revenue.

Any cut in state aid for a necessary service, some of which are ordered by the state, simply forces an increase in local property tax. And that is not a recipe for economic growth.

Republicans are pushing for a system that requires accountability in the payment of overtime to state employees, for a cap on state borrowing and for legislative votes on union contracts.

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These are reasonable — not painless, perhaps — suggestions to address some of the root causes that have shaped the Connecticut of 2016.

Malloy has shown that he gets it when it comes to the tough decisions. He has to persuade the legislative leadership of his part to “get it,” too and do what should be done for the future of the state — not just to lurch through another couple of months and continuing deficits.